The greatest archery test is the one no parent should be asked to attempt.
At a Glance
- Identity: William of Cloudesley
- Race: Human
- Role: Northern outlaw, archer and companion of Adam Bell and Clym of the Clough
- Age: Adult; exact age unknown
- Alignment: Chaotic Good
- Region: Inglewood Forest, Carlisle and northern roads
- Campaign status: Legendary figure living within the 1454 campaign
Cloudesley has an outlaw’s bow and a family he would rather keep beyond the sheriff’s reach. He has learned to read the weather in an archer’s silence and distrusts admirers who demand a spectacular shot. The ballad says that he proved his skill by shooting at an apple set on his own son’s head; he still wakes from that memory with trembling hands.
The medieval ballad of Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough and William of Cloudesley provides the legendary foundation. He is not documented as an actual person alive in 1454; this setting treats the outlaw trio as contemporaries of the campaign.
Game Statistics
Original rules conversions, adapted for the campaign’s living legends and returning spirits.
William of Cloudesley
Medium Humanoid (Human), Chaotic Good
AC 16; Initiative +4; HP 75; Speed 30 ft.
Skills Stealth +8, Perception +6, Survival +6; Senses passive Perception 14; Languages English; CR 5; PB +3
Actions
Longbow. Ranged Attack Roll: +7, range 150/600 ft.; Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) piercing.
Impossible Shot (Recharge 5–6). Make one longbow attack without disadvantage for long range or half cover; on a hit, the target’s speed is reduced by 10 feet until the end of its next turn.
Reactions
Legendary Escape (1/Day). After an attack misses this NPC, they move up to 10 feet without provoking opportunity attacks.
William of Cloudesley — 5e / 2014
AC 16; HP 75; Speed 30 ft.; CR 5; Languages English
Str 13 (+1), Dex 19 (+4), Con 14 (+2), Int 12 (+1), Wis 15 (+2), Cha 13 (+1)
Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) piercing.
Impossible Shot (Recharge 5–6). Make one longbow attack without disadvantage for long range or half cover; on a hit, the target’s speed is reduced by 10 feet until the end of its next turn.
Legendary Escape (1/Day). When missed by an attack, move 10 feet without provoking opportunity attacks.
William of Cloudesley — Pathfinder 1e
CR 6; Human ranger 5/rogue 2; Init +8; Senses Perception +12
Defense
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14; hp 70; Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +6
Offense
Speed 30 ft.; Ranged masterwork composite longbow (+1 Str) +12 (1d8+1/×3); Special Impossible Shot
Statistics
Str 13, Dex 19, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 13; Base Atk +6; CMB +7; CMD 22; Skills Perception +12, Stealth +11, Survival +11, Bluff +10; Feats Dodge, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus
William of Cloudesley — D&D 3.5e
CR 6; Human ranger 5/rogue 2; Init +8; AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14; hp 67; Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +6
Base Attack +6; Grapple +7; Attack masterwork composite longbow (+1 Str) +12 (1d8+1/×3); Abilities Str 13, Dex 19, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 13; Skills Spot +11, Listen +11, Hide +10, Move Silently +10; Feats Improved Initiative, Dodge, Weapon Focus
What Is William of Cloudesley Doing Now?
A cruel officer has seized Cloudesley’s youngest boy and announced a public shooting contest. The outlaw knows it is a trap. He needs the party to enter the fortress by a route the officers have overlooked and get every child out alive.
Encounters and Adventure Hooks
- The same arrow that saved a hostage is found lodged in a murdered official a hundred miles away.
- A travelling showman challenges Cloudesley to the apple shot but substitutes a glamour for the true target.
- The sheriff offers to pardon Cloudesley’s family if he betrays Adam Bell before dawn.
Personality and Relationships
Tender with his family, iron-willed under a threat, slow to celebrate feats that endanger others. A commander who endangers hostages for glory will find no mercy in him.
Adam Bell and Clym of the Clough share his oath. Inglewood Forest conceals their paths.
Equipment and Rewards
Longbow (masterwork composite, +1 Strength, in Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e), spare strings, broadhead arrows, hunting knife, weathered cloak and a carved wooden toy from his son. The NPC’s finest reward is an introduction, refuge, knowledge or a desperate favour: none is guaranteed to survive a double-cross.
Other Encounters
Cloudesley can be encountered watching a public archery contest from the shadows instead of competing. A sheriff’s man has put a boy among the targets to provoke him into revealing himself. If the party exposes the trick without shooting, Cloudesley may guide them into Inglewood; if they boast of their own skill, he demands they prove it first by sparing a life.
Connections and Sources
British Isles NPCs · Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough and William of Cloudesley
This NPC is a campaign adaptation. Literary characters, historical individuals from previous centuries, supernatural survivals, game statistics and newly invented events are distinguished in the text.
Mythical and Historical Context
William of Cloudesley belongs to the ballad cycle of Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough and William of Cloudesley, not to a securely documented 1454 outlaw register. The famous apple-shot episode and his devotion to his family come from the legendary tale. Here the outlaw trio are living people in Inglewood, and the dangers of forest law give their heroics immediate consequences. Read about the ballad and its transmission.
Keep this reference growing
If this page helped with your reading or game, you can support its upkeep or explore the curated books.
Explore the Bookshop — epics, classics and stories behind imagined worlds.